Divergent Review
RYAN: This is the latest franchise based on a young adult, best selling book series, along the lines of The Hunger Games. I haven’t read the books. We screened this right after interviewing the cast and author on the red carpet at the Chicago premiere (interviews can be seen here) and I loved it. I wanna read the book. I am now a Divergent fan.
KIM: I most certainly agree. I had heard of Divergent but only once the movie was announced. I wasn’t expecting too much but it is right up my alley, figuring I would enjoy it but ended up loving it. I was on the edge of my seat in most of the scenes, dying to know what would happen next.
RYAN: Totally! The stakes are so high in the story and the action and intensity is so strong that I was literally tensing up in my seat at times. Another time, I couldn’t help but kick at the air and the story just propels forward. The story is a great balance between this dystopian future and a dash of romance with great chemistry. I am obsessed with this Theo James now. And Shailene was fab too.
KIM: Yeah Shailene was great. I never watched her in TV but have seen some of her previous movies and she is a great, young actress. But that Theo James – dang! He is one good looking, smooth-talking man.
RYAN: I was swooning when we met! And I don’t remember the last time that happened! (laughs) Shailene was wonderful last year in The Spectacular Now in which she co-starred with Miles Teller; he’s also in this movie as is Zoe Kravitz and Ansel Elgort, who co-stars with Shailene again in a couple months in the much anticipated The Fault in our Stars movie. There’s something plain about Shailene that makes her a bit unremarkable and yet she fully embraces all actions and emotions of the characters she plays. She has range. But I do see a lot of parallels between Tris, her character here, and Katniss in The Hunger Games.
KIM: The difference is that Katniss is hardened from the start whereas Tris evolves a bit more in this story. She goes through choice and then training when Katniss was always a hunter.
RYAN: True. Katniss is edgier from the beginning on. But even story devices in the plot here somewhat mirror The Hunger Games, in terms of theme and politics, control, – it’s different but similar. I will say Divergent is much less manipulative then The Hunger Games in terms of cliffhanger at the end. I liked the end here and still look forward to the next installment. Kate Winslet is so icy cold in this, I love her. I found myself hating her in this movie because she’s so strong in the role.
KIM: Yeah I wasn’t enjoying her character either because she’s so evil. She’s a little underused because you want more. And can we say I love Ashley Judd!
RYAN: Yes as the mom and Tony Goldwyn as the dad… both terrif. It’s a great production – you really believe this future as fully realized. All the factions with their costumes or uniforms and the sets and effects were all cool. The scoring and soundtrack are great. It’s over two hours long.
KIM: But I didn’t feel it for one second. It’s very well paced.
RYAN: I want more for sure. I’m excited to have another obsess-worthy franchise. It’s a cool story and I can’t wait for the next one!
